For this renovation project in a rental apartment block, we had many limitations. Enclosing a floor space of only 45m2 and being 40 years old, the structure did not allow us much scope to alter the layout. We were also restricted by the fact that the entire North façade was glass. Additionally given the layout of the services and utilities, drastic alterations to the bathroom was not possible. These constraints provided us with our point of departure.

This project was our first rental space and, due to the multi-user nature of its use, it required a highly objective design approach. But were we required to comply with public opinion, or unsympathetically impose our own ideals? It was imperative that the design cater for a variety of users, so in order to solve this conundrum we considered the bare essentials for living and saw how those cold be provided for. The apartment consists only of a bedroom and a multi-use space. The space is enclosed by sliding panels that shift into place to conceal those objects which we find commonplace and banal. They convert the everyday into the extraordinary.

・The potential of fittings
While considering the design of the panels, we looked in to a traditional Japanese architectural application called Fusuma. Fusuma is the art of decorating room dividing panels with scenes of nature to create the impression that one is living outdoors enveloped in nature. We abstracted this concept and applied it to the dividing panels. The composition of lines draws inspiration from the silhouette of the surrounding mountains and from the city skyline - which has become our new nature.

By this we have elevated that which tends to be lifeless to a new level of meaning, rich with emotion. Yet the Fusama do not only provides emotional needs of the space but also the functional. The carved lines are at once handles and crevices for coat hangers which would otherwise protrude from the panels and compromise the simplicity of the space. The use of the Fusuma creates a balance between the disparity of function and emotional impact.